Expert: James Yee - 10/15/2007

Question
I just returned from a Caribbean cruise and brought back 6 Gurkha Grand Reserve Robustos. They are infused with a cognac flavour and come packaged in a glass tube. I have removed them from the tubes for storage in my humidor. How much "flavour contamination" can I expect from keeping them with my other non-flavoured cigars? The Gurkhas are separated from the others by a divider. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Lester,

Flavoured cigars, especially ones that have a powerful aroma, can indeed infuse their scent onto other cigars when inside a humidor.  Flavour contamination is not too much of a concern but “aroma contamination” can be a big problem and particularly strong-smelling flavoured cigars have been known to permanently fuse their scent onto other cigars as well as the Spanish cedar and foam-based humidification units inside a humidor.

If your cigars have a strong cognac scent, it’s best to keep them isolated from your other cigars.  What you should do is either keep them in an inexpensive humidor or makeshift humidor such as a Tupperware container.  Tupperware or generic plastic food storage containers work best as they are inexpensive and easily disposable.  (Make sure you use a brand new or sterilized container.)  Simply line the container with Spanish cedar and add a humidifier and hygrometer and you’re all set.  Just remember that in a plastic storage container, you will need to vent the humidity so keep only 3 of the 4 corners of the lid sealed.  Allow the 4th corner of the lid to be closed but rest loose on the container.  Keeping your cigars in aluminum or glass cigar tubes before storing them in your humidor can also reduce the aroma as the cigar tubes will minimize the smell from dispersing in your humidor.  Sealed cigar tubes will have minute traces of trapped moisture that can keep the cigars humidified and prevent them from drying out.

Hope this answers your question. If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I'll be happy to help.

Regards,
James